Less enrollments due to 1st of May deadline

The year, the deadline for enrolling in a course has been brought forward to the first of May resulting in a cutback in the number of new students.

Last year, 63,000 students had enrolled two weeks ahead of the enrollment deadline, now that number stands at just 45,000. This appears from the figures released by the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU). However, the enrollment deadline at the time was the first of September. After the deadline has expired, universities and polytechnic colleges have the right to turn students down.

The enrollment deadline for academic and polytechnic courses was brought forward by the Secretary of Education, Bussemaker, to prevent dropping out. Polytechnics and universities will, among others, first talk to each potential student to see whether the selected course actually matches with the student in question. This is part of the so-called ’Study Choice Check’, which has been made obligatory for all new students as of this year.

Update:

The final figures for Tilburg University aren’t available yet, a spokesperson made clear. “This applies both to foreign and Dutch students. On top of that, as the enrollment deadline has been moved forward, it’s hard for us to make any estimates and it’s hard to compare the numbers to last year’s. ” Last week, the total figure of advanced applications stood around 1200, about 200 more than during the same week in 2013. Ultimately, 1815 students started their courses last year.